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Kansas-Nebraska
Act Map
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1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act Map
The
Kansas-Nebraska Act map shows the existing Free States
and the existing Slave States.
● The
Missouri
Compromise of 1820 declared that Missouri be
admitted as a slave state and and Maine be admitted
as a slave state, maintaining a balance between
'free soil' and 'slave soil'. The Missouri
Compromise of 1820 also prohibited the extension of
slavery north of the 36°30′ latitude, as indicated
on the map
● The
Compromise of 1850
provided that California be admitted as a free state
and The territories of Utah and New Mexico
had been opened to the people to decide by Popular Sovereignty
whether their states favored or opposed slavery as indicated on the map,
contravening the Missouri Compromise
● In 1854 the
Kansas and Nebraska territories were the next areas
subjected to a dispute over the issue of slavery
Kansas-Nebraska Act History for kids
The
precedent of
Popular Sovereignty in the Compromise of 1850 had led to a demand
for a similar provision for the Kansas Territory and Nebraska
territory. The Compromise of 1850 provided that California be
admitted as a free state and that the people of the new territories
of Utah and New Mexico could decide whether their states favored or
opposed slavery, pursuant to the doctrine of
Popular Sovereignty.
The terms of the Compromise of 1850 contravened the Missouri
Compromise, the purpose of which was to maintain a balance between
the number of free and slave states admitted to the union. And the
terms of the Kansas-Nebraska Act followed suit.
Who wrote the
Kansas-Nebraska Act? The Aims of Stephen A. Douglas
Henry Clay
had written the
Compromise of 1850,
based upon the ideas of Senator Stephen A. Douglas of of Illinois
who was a strong advocate of the doctrine of Popular Sovereignty.
The Kansas-Nebraska Act was written
by Stephen A. Douglas to
provide for the formation of two new territories. One of these he
named Kansas and the other territory was named Nebraska.
Stephen A. Douglas was also a firm believer in the
Manifest Destiny of the United States
and its expansion of lands across the whole of the North American
continent. Stephen A. Douglas also believed that the lands of Kansas
and Nebraska were vital to the construction of a
Transcontinental Railroad to the Pacific coast allowing settlers to move westward and
also to provide a fast trade route - refer to
Railroads in the 1800s for facts about the history
of the railroad and the invention of the steam locomotive. Stephen
A. Douglas was also excited by the recent
Invention of the first telegraph
by Samuel Morse which would revolutionize communications across
the United States.
Reason for the
Kansas-Nebraska Act
What was the reason for Kansas-Nebraska Act? The existing area was
organized as a territory and
settlers would not move
move westward into Nebraska and
Kansas because they could not legally hold a claim on the
land. The Kansas-Nebraska Act would
allow them to claim ownership.
Purpose of the
Kansas-Nebraska Act: Another Compromise
What was the purpose of the Kansas-Nebraska Act?
The purpose of the Kansas-Nebraska Act
was to provide another compromise to encourage the representatives
of the southern states in Congress to look favorably on the act. The
south were in no hurry to permit a Nebraska territory because the
land lay north of the 36°30' parallel, where slavery had been
outlawed by the Missouri Compromise. To gain southern support for
the
Kansas-Nebraska Act, Stephen
A. Douglas therefore proposed Kansas as a southern state, inclined
to support slavery, to be included in the Kansas-Nebraska Act based on the doctrine
of Popular Sovereignty.
Provisions of the
Kansas-Nebraska Act
What did the Kansas-Nebraska Act do? The provisions of the Kansas-Nebraska Act
were:
● The new
territories were established as Kansas in the south and Nebraska
in the north opening new lands for settlement
● Their
boundaries and limits Kansas and Nebraska were defined
● The
settlers would decide (popular sovereignty) whether or not to
have slavery
Effect of the
Kansas-Nebraska Act
The
effects of the Kansas-Nebraska Act:
● The
Kansas-Nebraska Act once again contravened the
terms of Missouri Compromise, which designated
36°30′ as
a line of latitude to be the separation between
free and slave states (Kansas should have been a
free state as it was north of the line)
● The
Kansas-Nebraska Act
opened up an immense region to slavery
● The
anti-slavery leaders in the North were furious
and attacked the bill with great ferocity
● The
Kansas-Nebraska Act provided a focal point for
Abolitionists who established a media
campaign against the law and applied political
pressure to abolish slavery
● Northerners
established a free-soil campaign
● Southern
settlers flooded the Kansas territory to acquire
lands and voted for the expansion of slavery
● Violence
erupted in Kansas between Anti-slavery and
Pro-slavery militant activists reaching a state
of low intensity civil war and this destructive
event became known as 'Bleeding
Kansas'
Kansas-Nebraska Act Significance: Political Turmoil and Civil War
The
significance of the Kansas-Nebraska Act was:
● The
presidency of Franklin Pierce was ruined
following the Kansas-Nebraska Act and the issue
of the
Ostend
Manifesto that led to his defeat in the next
election
● The
Anti-slavery Whigs successfully prevented the
re-nomination of Millard Fillmore and led to the
destruction of the
Whig Party
● The
Anti-slavery Whigs also joined the
Free Soil Party which eventually emerged as
the
Republican Party
● The
Lincoln-Douglas
Debates: Abraham Lincoln
forced Stephen Douglas to defend the doctrine of of
"popular sovereignty" used in the Kansas-Nebraska Act
and also forced an open debate on the
Dred Scott Case. Abraham
Lincoln
subsequently won the 1860 presidential election
● This event was one of
the
Causes of the
Civil War
● The legacy of the
Kansas-Nebraska Act marked the point of no return on the
road to the American Civil war (1861-1865)
Kansas-Nebraska Act for kids - President Franklin Pierce Video
The article on the Kansas-Nebraska Act provides an overview of one of the Important issues of his presidential term in office. The following
Franklin Pierce video will
give you additional important facts and dates about the political events experienced by the 14th American President whose presidency spanned from March 4, 1853 to March 4, 1857.
Kansas-Nebraska Act
● Interesting Facts about Kansas-Nebraska Act for kids and schools
● Definition of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in US history
● The Kansas-Nebraska Act, a Important
event in US history
● Map, Summary, Effects, Significance of the
Kansas-Nebraska Act
● Fast, fun, interesting
facts
about the Kansas-Nebraska Act
● Kansas-Nebraska Act Provisions
● Franklin Pierce Presidency and
Franklin Pierce Kansas-Nebraska Act for schools,
homework, kids and children
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